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Built into the cliffs overlooking the Suvan Sea, Riverfall resides on the edge of grasslands of Cyphrus where the Bluevein River plunges off the plain and cascades down to the inland sea below. Home of the Akalak, Riverfall is a self-supporting city populated by devoted warriors. [Riverfall Codex]

“The copper cases by front door,” Arikamiss said, looking up from his book.

“Pardon?” Maria said, looking over at the large man.

“In case stupid walks in and tries anything,” Arikamiss said.

“How did you know?” Maria said.

“I know that look, had it myself,” Arikamiss said. To that Maria smirked a little and continued to give the store a good looking over, Arikamiss was also right. The cases of copper jewelry by the front door did offer a good point of attack in the event of an attempted robbery. Once the casing of the store was finished, Maria defaulted to her normal modus operandi, retrieving a rag and cleaner from the back of the store and spot checking all the glass. For a good while the only sound to be heard was the squeak of a rag on glass. As the day wore on no one else came in, and after a few games of cards on a chair behind the counter, Maria was about to tear her hair out from boredom.

“Oh for crying out loud, is it normally this slow?” Maria said.

“Not really, it has been pretty slow today,” Arikamiss said. Now thoroughly annoyed by the lack of anything to do, Maria started to think. Putting her mind to the task at hand she tried to think of a way to drum up more business. For several minutes a plan started to form in her mind, but it was taking time to solidify.

“Think any harder and your hair's liable to catch fire,” Akiramiss said. Breaking her concentration for a moment Maria looked over as the comment registered, then just stuck her tongue out at the man who chuckled a little and went back to reading. When things finally did fall into place she almost jumped up, then walked into the back of the store to talk with Sumithal.

“Hey boss man,” Maria said.

“Hey employee woman,” Sumithal said, sticking his head through the door to his personal office.

“You do any advertising for this place?” Maria said. “It's so slow out front I can hear my hair growing.”

“I post fliers in town, occasionally hire someone to sit by the entrance to the city and tell people about the place, why?” Sumithal said.

“Because I just had an idea,” Maria said. “Can I head back home real quick? I'll be right back.”

“Okay... sure,” Sumithal said. With that Maria returned to her apartment to retrieve a large portion of the money she had hidden there, and a small backpack with some clothes. For the plan she had in mind it would require more than the few pocket miza she normally carried. In short order Maria returned to the store, then took a silver necklace set with a malachite stone from one of the display cases, held it up a bit so Arikamiss could see it, then headed into the back. There she showed the necklace to Sumithal, who was sitting at a table counting money, and set a hefty bag of gold miza down. With that she offered a small smirk.

“Nope. I was thinking one of the best ways to drum up some business is rather than telling people about the place, show'em what it has to offer,” Maria said.

“How exactly?” Sumithal said.

“Simple, I'll put on some snazzy clothes and walk around town wearing the necklace for about an hour or so,” Maria said. “That's what the money is for, in case the necklace is stolen or something else happens, it's paid for.”

“First day on the job and you're already trying to advertise?” Sumithal said, pulling the string and looking into the pouch.

“If I don't do something besides wait around, you're going to have a bald employee after I tear my hair out,” Maria said.

That got a small chuckle from Sumithal who nodded, “Sure, why not, but no more than an hour.”

Eager to get started Maria returned to the door to the back of the store. There she opened the backpack and took out a black silk dress that was trimmed with fur. It was one of the most expensive items Maria owned and one of the few personal luxuries bought just for her. It was part of a complete outfit which came with a black leather belt, and a pair of matching high boots. For a woman who came from the slums of Sunberth, this was very high class. In the back room she stripped down to undergarments, not caring if Sumithal watched or not. With the clothing change complete, she walked back over to the table and turned away from Sumithal.

“Mind lacing me up?” Maria said. Sumithal stood and laced up the back of the dress for Maria, then picked up the necklace and put that on for her as well.

“So what do you think?” Maria said, turning around she struck a small sexy pose.

“I think this is an interesting advertising approach and I'd like to see how it works,” Sumithal said. “You also look quite lovely.”

With the go ahead from Sumithal, Maria was glad to be doing something other than just sitting around the shop. Now she just had to make sure to hit areas of high density for maximum exposure in this little try out. Ready to head out, Maria walked out to the front of the store, then stopped and struck a pose for Arikamiss as well.

“I'm gonna go advertise, what do you think?” Maria said.

“Advertise what exactly?” Arikamiss said.

“THE JEWELRY!!!” Maria said. Doing a rather poor job of stifling a snicker, the guard gave her a thumbs up. In a bit of a huff, Maria walked out of the store, but then immediately put on her most stuck up attitude once outside, which wasn't that far from the truth. In the black silk dress with a belt around the waist, and leather boots, she walked down the street like it was any other day. In order to pull this off properly, she would need to appear like an normal person and not a walking advertisement.

This would be something of a new approach to a job, therefore Maria wasn't entirely sure about what to do. Never the less it was better than sitting around a dead shop all day. She also thought that if it did drum up some more business, it would look good on her as an employee. Considering the way the business was set up, it didn't appear there would be much room for advancement, but getting in good with the boss was never a bad thing. Still new to Riverfall, Maria wasn't even sure where the high density traffic areas were in the city, except for one. While she did know the gate might be a good place to start, this was also a chance to learn about Riverfall.

Her second thought was the Zhongjie Warren which was the city's bazaar. There a person could find just about anything they might be after. Riverfall had a number of specialty stores where people could find specific items, but the bazaar had a bit of everything. Light grumbles from the abdomen also reminded Maria it was close to midday. Seems this little venture would turn out to be a business lunch as well. Now with both business and food in mind, Maria set off for the Warren.

It didn't take long for her to arrive there as memorizing streets and locations within a city was something she was quite good at, and there were quite a few people out and about. Most of them appeared to be the household types that would be shopping while their spouse or significant other was working. There were also a lot of children tagging along as well, though most were quite young. The stalls were busy with people haggling over prices, and a few vendors were calling out the value of their wares, in hopes of haggling over a price.

Once again with her best snooty attitude, Maria stuck her nose up in the air slightly, and began to walk through the market with the necklace on display for everyone to see. While casually looking at some of the stalls she passed most of them by without much interest. There were a number of things she would like to stop and look at, but this was a business matter, not a shopping trip. There was however, one stall that brought her to a halt. There was a plain looking Akalak woman manning the small tent and her wares were small paper bowls filled with a variety of sliced fruit pieces that were lightly dusted with granulated sugar.

“Good day my lady, see anything you like?” the woman said. That alone brought Maria to a mental stop. This was the first time anyone had ever referred to her as 'my lady'. This woman was either very polite, or the attempt at looking well to do was working.

“May I?” Maria said, motioning to one of the bowls. With a smile the woman took a wooden toothpick, speared a piece of fruit, and handed it her. The piece looked like an apple slice, and casually slipping it into her mouth, Maria chewed. The fruit was ripe and the juice spilled over her tongue. The added sugar was just enough to enhance the flavor without overpowering it, and the whole experience was quite delicious.

“Only six copper for a bowl,” the woman said. Six copper miza were placed on the counter and Maria took the rest of the little bowl. “If I might ask, where did you buy that necklace? It's quite a lovely piece.”

“This?” Maria said, looking down casually. “A shop in town called Beautiful Things.” Rather than going into a sales pitch, or any sort of rambling, she left things that. The woman had shown interest, and now knowing where the necklace came from she would no doubt be curious. Best to let the woman's curiosity bring her to the store. Fruit bowl in hand, Maria continued to walk through the bazaar slowly, visually advertising the jewelry, and ate her lunch. The mix of fruit was quite nice as were some of the young Akalak women out today.

By the time the food was gone she'd fielded questions from several other people about the necklace, including not only where it came from, but how much something like that cost. In each case Maria answered their questions, but little more. As before she was only trying to whet the appetite of potential customers so they would head to the store to see more, and possibly buy something. It had been close to an hour by now, so it was time to start heading back. There was still some time in the business day, so Maria could at least see if there were any result from her efforts.

On the way back to the store, Maria noticed one of the fliers that Sumithal had mentioned earlier. Curious as to the advertisement, she stopped to read it, but was nearly frustrated in this respect. Maria's ability to read as almost as bad as her ability to write. It as one of the many drawbacks that came with self-education. Without any formal schooling the vast majority of the knowledge Maria possessed was through personal experience. The only thing she was good was basic mathematics by virtue of counting money, as was just about everyone else.

The advertisement had the name of the store and general directions about where they could be found, along with a sketch of the shop on the bottom. It wasn't horrible, but Maria had definitely seen better. There was also a small blurb about the variety of items offered, making them gifts for loved ones, and what great deals they offered. It was generally about what any vendor would say regarding their wares. Although she had to admit this was one of the few fliers she'd seen for a business. Shoving that thought aside she focused on getting back to work. After arriving on time that morning, the last thing she wanted was to be late reporting back from this little advertising experiment.

Back at Beautiful Things she walked through the door to see Sumithal working the counter, and holding a bracelet while talking to a young human woman. It was obvious she was interested in buying, and Sumithal was interested in selling. In the back she quickly changed back into an everyday outfit, and waited for the woman to buy the bracelet and leave before walking back out. Necklace in hand Maria approached her employer and held the item out for inspection. Sumithal took it, looking everything over, and nodded.

“Your coin pouch is still on the table in the back when you want to pick it up,” Sumithal said.

“Business picking up yet?” Maria said.

“The young woman I just sold a bracelet to is the second person to come in since you left,” Sumithal said. “Advertising success or blind luck, we'll see.”

The little outing was enough to satisfy Maria's cabin fever for today so she returned to manning the front of the store while Sumithal did whatever it was he normally did in the back. By the end of the day another six people came in with four of them buying something. It was a fair guess the day was over when the sun began to set and Arikamiss secured the door to the front room. The moment that happened Maria went to the back and wrote everything down in the books, then went about cleaning the daylights out of the store front.

She also knew better than to leave before Sumithal gave her the go ahead. He would be going over the books, counting money, and making sure everything was in order. Close to an hour later he walked out front and Maria looked up from mopping he floor.

“Everything in order boss man?” Maria said.

“Right on the money,” Sumithal said. That was a relief for Maria to hear, and taking another minute to finish the floor, she walked up to Sumithal as he was locking the display cases.

“So how was my first day?” Maria said.

“You're off to a good start, and an interesting one as well,” Sumithal said.

“So did you like my advertising idea?” Maria said.

“It was definitely different,” Sumithal said. “I'm not quite sold on it yet, but it's still worth consideration.”

“Fair enough,” Maria said. From the back room there was a sharp whistle, and Maria looked over to see Arikamiss just as he threw her money pouch underhand style. She caught the money, then stuffed it into her shirt for safe keeping, doing a little bit of tummy sucking to make room.

“We good for today?” Maria said.

“Indeed we are, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning,” Sumithal said. With a bit of a smile and a two finger salute, Maria put away both mop and bucket, then headed out for the day. With things looking up on the job front, Maria decided to hit a local tavern, have a hot meal, a glass of ale, and possible harass a cute tavern wench.

A super enjoyable thread; Arkimass' jokes made me laugh & your description of the fruit made my mouth water! Just a wee consideration: there are no Akalak women as the Akalak are an all-male race, non-male citizens of Riverfall are ‘Kuvan’ (if they have earned the status), or simply ‘Rivarian’.